Chapter 172 – Four Crushes, Two Cases of Xi-repression

1

“Hey! Good morning, Miss Lin Xi! Miss Xinning!”

At the school gates, Lin Xi and Zhao Xinning ran into Shi Yu and Lu Yi approaching from another direction.

Shi Yu began waving while she was still a good distance away.

Lu Yi waited until she came closer before saying hello.

“Morning to you too,” Lin Xi replied.

With Zhao Xinning present, the three of them behaved like nothing more than ordinary classmates.

They had no idea Zhao Xinning already knew the truth about their relationships.

“Good morning, Miss Shi Yu, Miss Lu Yi.” Zhao Xinning greeted them with a gentle smile.

Inwardly, she spoke to the Queen of Curses.

“Quick, check how Shi Yu and Lu Yi feel about Xi.”

“Understood,” the Queen of Curses said.

Her answer came almost at once.

“Just like you, Shi Yu likes Lin Xi so much that she is repressing it. Lu Yi likes Lin Xi too, although her feelings lean more toward… dependence.”

Zhao Xinning asked, “Their love isn’t as pure as mine, is it?”

As long as Shi Yu’s and Lu Yi’s feelings for Xi were less pure than her own, everything would be easy…

“I cannot determine that merely by looking,” the Queen of Curses said. “You must stab them with the Cursed Blade before I can know for certain.”

Zhao Xinning: “…”

There was obviously no chance to do that in broad daylight. She would have to wait for another opportunity.

The four of them entered the school. Before they had gone far, someone else waved to them from a distance.

“Lin Xi! And everyone else-good morning!”

Xia Xun came bounding over, bursting with energy.

The Magical Girl’s smile made more than a few students stop and stare.

But that adorable smile belonged to Lin Xi alone.

Zhao Xinning was all smiles on the outside. Inside, she was .

“Queen of Curses, check Xia Xun too.”

After a single, apparently definitive glance, the Queen of Curses said,

“Another case of Xi-repression.”

“You, Shi Yu, and Xia Xun are probably neck and neck.”

Zhao Xinning was speechless.

When exactly had those two pests developed Xi-repression???

Still in a foul mood, she headed upstairs with the others, only for yet another girl to greet Lin Xi along the way.

“Miss Lin Xi, and…” Yang Shanshan could not remember the names of the other girls around Lin Xi. Her face reddened with panic. “Um, good morning, everyone!”

“Morning, Miss Shanshan,” Lin Xi replied.

Yang Shanshan could not help admiring Lin Xi. She had attracted so many cute girls that she was practically the King of Ten Thousand Females from a harem manga!

The Queen of Curses went to work without waiting for Zhao Xinning to ask.

A minute later, she said, “This Yang Shanshan… likes Lin Xi too. But there is something strange about her. She is both timid and confident.”

Zhao Xinning did not understand. “Aren’t timid and confident opposites?”

“I know a little about Yang Shanshan. She’s a perfectly ordinary girl, just one of Xi’s little followers.”

“So being timid makes sense, but confident…? What could possibly give her confidence???”

“That, I cannot see. You will probably have to stab her with the Cursed Blade before I can tell,” the Queen of Curses said. “She is even more confident than you are.”

“What?!” Zhao Xinning stared blankly. “You mean I think I have victory in the bag, and she thinks she does too?”

“Yes. That is precisely how confident she is,” the Queen of Curses replied.

Zhao Xinning found that impossible to believe. What made Yang Shanshan think she could win so easily?

Just because she sat behind Xi in class? What a joke!

To find out, Zhao Xinning would have to stab them with the Cursed Blade. All she could do was wait for the right opportunity…

The Queen of Curses had something else to say.

“You only just arrived at school, and we have already encountered four girls who like Lin Xi. Two of them even have ‘Xi-repression.’ Are you sure Lin Xi is the Blazing Blast Witch and not the Blazing Flame Succubus???”

Zhao Xinning could not take it anymore. “Xi is obviously the Blazing Blast Witch! She is not some Blazing Flame Succubus.”

“So many people like her because she’s brilliant and has a wonderful personality. She’s beautiful, adorable, thoughtful, generous…”

“You can stop praising her now,” the Queen of Curses said. “I already know how wonderful she is.”

“This Lin Xi really is rather interesting…”

Alarm bells erupted in Zhao Xinning’s mind. “Queen of Curses, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Xi too?”

“No. How could I?” the Queen of Curses said. “I am the emotionless Queen of Curses, so there is no need to worry. I merely find her interesting.”

“I endured long, tedious ages. It is rare for me to encounter something this entertaining…”

“Fine.” Zhao Xinning had no intention of letting her own Love Strategist stab her in the back. “As I thought, those two Xi-repressed pests, Xia Xun and Shi Yu, are my greatest enemies.”

“Fortunately, I will always come first in Xi’s heart.”

“I need to find a way to stab them with the Cursed Blade…”

…

“Miss Lin Xi, when can we go fishing again?”

Lin Xi had barely sat down when Yang Shanshan, who sat behind her, asked the question.

Lin Xi’s crushing defeat in their last fishing contest had left her pride smarting, so she had deliberately avoided bringing up fishing ever since.

“I still want to learn more about fishing from you, Miss Lin Xi!”

Yang Shanshan meant it sincerely.

She had only beaten Lin Xi in their fishing contest because her little sister had been underwater, secretly putting fish on her hook.

Afterward, she had gone home and studied fishing properly. The next time she went with Lin Xi, she intended to compete without cheating.

To Lin Xi, however, her words sounded like naked mockery.

“Miss Shanshan, you pulled up a huge fish with every cast. What could you possibly learn from me?”

Yang Shanshan: “…”

So this was what it felt like to reap what she had sown…

“Um, I… I was only lucky that day. Besides, you helped me land both of those big fish, Miss Lin Xi. What I’m trying to say is, I can’t begin to compare with you.”

“Someone like me probably isn’t even worth a single strand of your hair!”

Lin Xi: “…”

“Miss Shanshan, have a little confidence in yourself!”

“Maybe we can go again this weekend. It depends on my schedule and the weather. If I’m free and the weather’s good, we’ll go fishing.”

“Ah, but we aren’t competing this time.” Lin Xi was afraid of losing again. Getting slapped in the face by her own boasts was not a pleasant experience.

“Okay! Thank you, Miss Lin Xi!” Yang Shanshan said gratefully.

Lin Xi told her not to make such a big deal of it. “We’re already good friends, aren’t we? You don’t have to be so formal.”

“Huh? Then… can I call you by your name?”

“Of course. I’ve wanted to call you Shanshan without the ‘Miss’ for ages.”

“That’s wonderful!” Yang Shanshan shot straight out of her seat. “Miss Lin Xi-no, Lin Xi!”

“Yes, Shanshan,” Lin Xi replied.

“Lin Xi!”

“Shanshan.”

“Lin Xi!”

“Shanshan, are you ever going to stop?”

Yang Shanshan blushed. “I’m just so happy!”

…

On the roof of the teaching building opposite them, Yang Tongtong watched the interaction between Yang Shanshan and Lin Xi with a lollipop between her lips. She shook her head.

“Sigh…”

“My hopeless Sis…”

“She’s this happy just from saying Lin Xi’s name?”

Yang Tongtong needed to step up her game. She intended to get Lin Xi into bed.

Footnote:

• Xi-repression(溪压抑): A pun on the Chinese term for “sexual repression,” replacing its first syllable with Xi, from Lin Xi’s name.